7 Types of Annoying Colleagues as Kittens (and how to deal with them through Office 365)

We wish we were all one happy kitten team at the office. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. When you spend more than a third of your life with your colleagues, you’re bound to notice some of their flaws. We have some great strategies for you to minimize their annoyances though, and the next time someone ticks you off, just remember these cute kitten photos (and snigger smile)!

1.Personal Space Kitten

This kitten always seems to be too close for comfort. Whether they are tripping over your shoes or letting you know exactly what they had for lunch by breathing in your personal space, this kitten doesn’t know how to back off and they can get on your nerves quickly.

Solution: Skype for Business

Schedule regular virtual meetings with this kitten. You can use webcams, share your screen, and use voice, all without having to worry about this kitten getting too close. Don’t let this kitten invade your space when you can keep them at bay virtually.

2.Grumpy Kitten

This kitten is never happy. No matter the news, grumpy kitten can only focus on the negatives. A big new deal? More work. Year-end bonus? Not as much as it could have been. This negative kitten can bring the whole team down if you let them.

Solution: Office Mobile

Make sure you’re communicating positively and often with this kitten no matter where you are. Help them to see the bright side and don’t let them spread their negative vibes. With Office Mobile you can collaborate and communicate with grumpy kitten on the go. Don’t forget to send them some cute photos of kittens to brighten their day as well!

3.Sleepy Kitten

While we all stay up too late once in a while, this kitten always seems to be exhausted at work. Whether they stayed out with old friends, binge watched Game of Thrones, or just drank too much coffee, this kitten has an excuse for being sleepy at work every day. If you’re not careful this kitten can slow down your productivity and hold up projects you need to get done.

Solution: Outlook Calendar

Make sure you schedule meetings with this kitten at optimal times. We all feel sleepy after lunch, and this kitten is usually late to the office, so schedule your meetings with them right before lunch or near the end of the day. This way you’ll get them at their least-sleepy time and you’ll be able to get work done instead of having to listen about how tired they are.

4.Gossip Kitten

This kitten finds a way to turn every conversation into gossip time. Whether they are snidely remarking about someone’s outfit, raise, work ethic or anything else this kitten loves nothing more than to talk about juicy rumours going around the office.

Solution: OneNote

Make sure you keep your thoughts organized when you get ready to talk to gossip kitten. Write down bullet points so when the conversation starts to wander, you can turn it back to the business at hand. Having your phone out and taking notes may also slow down the flow of gossip and keep this kitten in work mode.

5.Bully Kitten

This kitten gets what they want by being loud and aggressive. Whenever something doesn’t go the way they’d like or the boss is looking for someone to blame, this kitten goes into bully mode. Talking loudly, making exaggerated gestures, belittling teammates and passing blame are all part of bully kitten’s daily routine.

Solution: Excel

Have your facts and figures organized and on hand to fend off bully kitten. While some people may back down to their aggressiveness if they’re not on top of their game, by keeping organized you can stick to your guns and feel confident telling bully kitten when they’re out of line.

6.Lost Kitten

This kitten never seems to quite know what’s going on. They may just be absent minded or a bit ditzy, but that can put a big hit on your team’s productivity without proper management. This kitten is always asking questions that they should already know the answer to, and if you ask them what the meeting you just had was about, they might not even be able to tell you.

Solution: PowerPoint

The secret to getting the most out of lost kitten is to make everything as clear as possible and hold their attention. There’s no better tool than PowerPoint to get this done. Present your information in a clean, engaging manner and make sure your slides aren’t too cluttered. PowerPoint lets you turn this lost kitten into a focused, productive member of the team.

7.Loud Kitten

Whenever this kitten opens their mouth, the whole office can hear every syllable. You can tell this kitten loves to hear themselves talk because not only are they loud, but they are also happy to keep talking over everyone else. Whether in a meeting or just when they stop by your desk, this kitten can ruin your team’s productivity just because they love the sound of their own voice.

Solution: Outlook

Once this kitten starts talking it’s almost impossible to get them to stop. So limit your verbal communications with loud kitten and work together through email. Make sure you are writing clear emails with action items so there’s no reason for this kitten to wander over and spend the next 20 minutes interrupting your productivity.

It would be great if we could all get along perfectly with our colleagues. Unfortunately, that usually isn’t the case. But, as we’ve demonstrated here, there are plenty of strategies to work effectively with everyone on your team. Microsoft Office 365 has the tools you need to collaborate and increase your productivity in ways you didn’t even know you needed.